Thursday, 31 July 2014

Made up of "Tsar" on vocals, "Disease Fiend" on guitars and bass, and "Tawrich Mantis" on drums, Aum are a three-piece black metal rarity in that they're from China and based out of Hong Kong. The only other solid information I could find out about Aum is from their label's (Le Crépuscule du Soir Productions) distribution page where they're said to be "spawned forth from the toxic wasteland streets of Hong Kong during the end of 2009". Secret origin stories aside, Aum's EP "Of Pestilence" is a frantic, discomforting, and seemingly incessant journey through drowned vocals, thrashy riffs, and tight, crisp drumming that works well with the overall signature corpse-sound of black metal and works to set Aum aside from the bands of the early Scandinavian black metal scene and Les Légions Noires that they clearly draw much of their inspiration from. Although somewhat minimalistic most of the tracks are long and weighty, and build up a LOT of momentum- especially on tracks like "The Forge of Zurvan" which takes a little while to get there, but when it does it's a beast of raw power and energy that I can't wait to see what they'll be able to channel into next.

Columbus, Ohio blackened punk/raw black metal act Slave House have been making some waves recently with an article in Cvlt Nation promoting their demo, and the complete selling out of their demo tapes through Knife Vision, and it's no wonder- it's pretty damn good. Full of grimy, necrotic guitar riffs and booming bass in the background that feels incredibly fat and weighty- juxtaposed against the backdrop of fast and punchy drumming perfectly, Slave House have demonstrated some real talent here. I was overall really surprised with how well Slave House's demo was put together, it still has the lo-fi/go-cry (thanks to the anonymous commenter on my White Medal review for that gem of a term) feel that you would expect of a demo tape, but the four tracks work extremely well together to create a really groovy enterprise that admittedly had me bobbing my head most of the way through, which is definitely a promising sign for future endeavors by Slave House.

Sunday, 27 July 2014

Wasting no time from the get-go you're assaulted on Toronto, Canada band Absolut's "Punk Survival" with chaotically fervent thrash metal-esque shredding that moves through peaks and valleys of solos, riffs, and tempos- all of which never drop below a level of insane volume and speed. Said shredding is also backed by great drumming that moves by crisply as pained vocals reminiscent of Doom's classic "Police Bastard" make for some intense listening. I once heard a pretty accurate description of Absolut as "Scandinavian inspired D-beat if it was filtered through Japanese hardcore.
This shit is loud, scuzzy and ear crushing in its overwhelming wall of
sound but with a driving intensity you can’t help but destroy shit to
and holy Jesus fucking Christ can their guitarist thrash I can assure
you that live these guys are on another level."After seeing them play live myself not long ago I can confirm that yes, their guitarist does indeed fucking rule- along with the rest of the band. So if you're looking for something to crank way up while you either chill out, or as the quote says, break some shit "Punk Survival" is the perfect album to do it to.

Wednesday, 23 July 2014

Canada seems to have quite the flair for black metal, however many of these bands tend to come from Quebec cities such as Montreal (Gris, Akitsa, etc)- rarely do you hear about such bands coming from areas of Ontario, and even less so do they become prominent. This is the case however with Ottawa one-man black metal act "Gravekeeper" created by Dave King who's recent full length album has been turning quite a few heads lately, I talked with Dave to get a better idea of his musical processes, inspiration, and to discuss his recent popularity.

FBN: To start with, tell us a bit about who you are and your current
musical project "Gravekeeper"

Dave: Well, there's not too much to say about myself. I'm a
nihilist and more than a little introverted, which is why I've chosen
for Gravekeeper to be a one man band. The project its self is something
I've been wanting to do for a few years, and after having little luck
working with other musicians, I concluded that if anything was going to
get done, I'd have to do it myself. With the project, I look to create a
sound and atmosphere that's definitively inside the black metal genre,
but not so much that I can't incorporate elements and influences from
doom, funeral doom, and drone.

FBN: How did you originally start playing music? What do you think the
biggest influences on your style would be as well, musical or otherwise?

Dave: I originally started playing guitar at 15. I found a
course in high school that was basically an introduction to guitar, and
that's how I first learned to play. It was a year later that I was first
invited to do vocals in some jam sessions with a guy at school, who was
looking to put together a musical outfit, and that's when I started to
think that yeah, maybe being in a band and becoming a reasonably
successful musician wasn't so far fetched. As far as influences go, it'd
be hard to touch on all of them, as there are so many. Every band I've
been heavily into, from the infancy of my taste in metal as a teenager,
to bands I can't get enough of this very day, have all spurred me on in
one way or another. Musically speaking, there's still lots of bands that
influence the music of Gravekeeper, but a few of the more familiar
names would include Nortt, Xasthur, Sunn O))), Coldworld, Trist, and
Anti. Graveyards themselves can often be of significant inspiration and
influence, and sometimes I'll go to a graveyard with my guitar and a
little notepad, and just walk around or sit somewhere and let the ideas
come to me.

FBN: What's your take on the local metal scene, or even just music scene in
general, in and around Ottawa in the time you've lived there- or even in
recent years?

Dave: To be honest, I'm not nearly as up on the local scene as most people
here, and I think the reason for that is the almost painful lack of good
bands we get here. I've lived in, or at least just outside of Ottawa my
whole life, and I've never known it to be a particular hotspot for
metal, and that goes for both bands that come from Ottawa, and bands
that tour here. I might be living under a rock, but one thing I haven't
seen much or any of, is bands coming "back" to Ottawa. They come here
once, and then if you want to see them again, you have to go to Toronto
or Montreal. Most of the time, you'd have to go there anyways, because
so many North American or even Canadian tours will have these massive
lists of dates and venues, Toronto and Montreal usually being back to
back dates, and it's like Ottawa doesn't even exist. I think this makes
things a bit harder on local bands actually, because many local bands
who might be just starting out, will have fewer opportunities to get
their music out there. A great way to get your band on at least the
local radar is to open for a big name band that draws a big crowd, and
to put on a really solid opening performance. Since these bigger names
are so infrequent, many local bands, some of whom show a great deal of
promise, tend to have rather short life spans, and fade quickly into
obscurity.

FBN: What do you think this means for your own music then? Do you think you'd
like to try to get a bit more exposure for yourself through local
performances or stick to more online sources like bandcamp and
interviews such as this one, or even the "Top Six New Bands You Must Hear Today!" on CVLT Nation (congrats on that by the way)

Dave: Thanks, I was really surprised to wake up and find that
article so unexpectedly. It was fantastic for publicity, and caused a
huge spike in the plays and downloads from the bandcamp page, which was
great. Your recent article, as well as this interview, I think will also
be good for getting word around about the band. That said, yeah, I
totally think online methods are working well, at least thus far, and
I've recently been considering putting together a Soundcloud page as
well. Doing local shows seems to me to be next to impossible, or at very
least impractical. Such is the plight of one man bands, I think. The
concept of putting together a live lineup, especially having to find
people that have enough gear to be stage ready (I use a very minimal
amount of gear myself to make my songs, so there's not much I could
contribute to that), it all just seems to be a little far fetched. I
mean sure, I suppose it could happen, but it's hardly something I would
expect to happen. If I'm entirely honest though, I'm really far more
inclined to avoid becoming concerned with doing live shows, as I feel
like it would be a distraction from writing and releasing new material.

FBN: That's pretty understandable- speaking of new material, do you have anything in the works at the moment?

Dave: I have lots of lyrics and song material I'm working on, and a handful of
things that probably could have gone on the album, but that I didn't
quite think were entirely finished. The downside is that there are some
things going on outside the project that really demand to be prioritized
at the moment, so work on new tracks has become kind of an intermittent
thing. I'd love to have a new album out by the end of the year,
preferably one with a couple more tracks and a longer run time than the
first. I can't speculate too much on when there might be a new release,
or how many new songs there will be on it, but I am hopeful that there
will be something new by the end of the year, even if it's just a brief
EP or something.

FBN: Sounds good to me- to wrap things up do you have any thank you's,
message to people reading this, or general last words you'd like to get
in?

Dave: I'd like to thank CVLT Nation for including Gravekeeper in their top 6
new bands article, as well as you and Fucked by Noise for the article
there too. I'd also like to thank everyone who's supported the band by
buying the album, whether it be the download from bandcamp, or the
physical album, as well as all those who've even so much as liked the
facebook page. The physical album can be ordered from the facebook page
by inboxing me personally on the page its self, or through email, by
clicking the 'contact Gravekeeper' link on the bandcamp page. I handle
every order personally, and every CD is hand numbered.

Thanks again for taking the time to do this interview.

FBN: No problem, thanks to you too!

Head over to Gravekeeper's Bandcamp page to grab a CD copy of Dave's full length release and be sure to follow or bookmark the page for future releases.

Saturday, 19 July 2014

Yorkshire, England band White Medal's first and thus far only full-length album is punishingly heavy- it IS extremely lo-fi and unpolished as you would expect of a raw black metal release but it moves by pretty slowly so don't expect the shredding punk elements of Bone Awl if that's what you're after in this one. The extremely low, guttural vocals contrast the higher-pitched guitars that reminded me very much of Ildjarn (especially on tracks like "Ar Deeard Moor") in the background, as the drums become the true force driving the weight of the album. I loved the heavy use of cymbals alongside the crude bashing of the drums as the light "ting, ting, ting" coasts by alongside the rest of the production and gives it another great layer of sophistication. Getting into the grim and pagan histories of the musician's given area is nothing new to black metal, but it's interesting how White Medal put their own spin on it, using old Norse-influenced English which is apparent on pretty much every track but the first which I found kind of interesting as well- all in all be sure to throw this one on nice and loud if you find any of this appealing.

Despite having an album title that drops as many names and terms as an eBay listing, Nak'ay is a fast and filthy band based out of Fort Wayne, Indiana that sound like the bastard child of Drunkdriver and Witchface and take the grindcore, punk, and black metal elements of each group to their fullest potential. Not to say that Nak'ay is just an imitation of each band, crudely thrown together with little talent- no, Nak'ay are a beast all their own as the title suggests, cranking out track after blisteringly fast track that doesn't reach into the lo-fi aspects of black metal like I thought it would at first but is actually a lot more distorted in its composition which is where the noise aspects suggested in the title come into play. The band get into some quick guitar solos on various tracks which I liked as well, the one at the end of "Thieves of the Nuclear Permafrost" particularly reminded me of the riff on "Cry of the Banshee" by Brocas Helm, however the solos don't last long as the assault of destructive noise (which is ironically anti-war lyrically) blasts by in full after about ten minutes- so grab some Nak'ay below, mmkay?

Collecting the band's various EPs, Demos, and Splits, Melek Taus is ethereal and darkly serene. Moon was (and still is) a one-man black metal act from Brisbane, Australia formed by Paul Marsh aka "Miasmyr" who has a flair for haunting, and also strangely elegant, lo-fi tracks with loads of great vocal reverb. Moon is best compared to DSBM in the style of Xasthur although moves through various levels of harshness as the vocals sound pretty airy and smoothed out I suppose you could say on "Moon" but get pretty harsh and overwhelming on "Blood". This tends to be a recurring thing with Moon in a few aspects, some tracks will start out hauntingly beautiful but transition into some pretty jarring, near raw black metal material, or work it's way into the areas of drone, funeral doom, and others. Moon consistently delivers some seriously good, classic feeling black metal- snag Melek Taus below.

Friday, 18 July 2014

Here at FBN we automatically assume you like it raaawwwwww (baby), even more so if it's paired with hardcore or black metal, so naturally I've dug up the ugliest release I could find for your listening pleasure.
Qualm are a relatively new hardcore outfit from Amsterdam, Netherlands and this here is their relatively new tape, Passive. The nine tracks here are as a negative and dark as they come, and with song titles such as 'Self Loathing' and 'Despicable', you've got a fair indication of the themes on this tape. One could easily liken Qualm to a blackened punk band, with filthy, raw vocals and tinny guitar sound and noisy, dissonant solos, but this thing's just brimming with primal, stompy hardcore energy - just listen to that drum intro on 'Numb' and you'll understand.Passive, and the band's demo are available on Qualm's bandcamp as pay-what you-want downloads. Keep an eye out for the upcoming physical release too!

Australia's alternative music scene has always had something of a fascination with the scuzzier, burly side of musical spectrum - just ask The Scientists, The Birthday Party, Feedtime - or Mutton. The Melbourne four-pieceplay fuzzed out noise rock that owes just as much to Am Rep as it does to the barren wasteland in the middle of the ocean that is Australia. I talked to Rob, Max and Dorian from Mutton to get the lowdown on the band.

FBN: Hi there! What's your name and what do you do?

Max: The animal we birthed answers to the name, "Mutton". We attempt a blend of scuzzy noise fueled discord.

FBN: Tell us about the band - how did you guys come together and start writing music together?

Dorian: Matt put the word out about starting a band and I was into his idea. After few practices I asked Rob if he wanted to play bass and Matt asked Max to try out on vocals. That's literally how it all came together. Early writing involved a bunch of songs being reworked, some of which got ditched, and the remainders were what became the self-titled EP.

FBN: What does the song writing process usually look like for you guys?

Max: Dorian or Rob bring pre-written riffs to a practice and they'll jam these basic parts in a linear fashion with Matt. Whilst this takes place I'll try and get a rough melody and some words formed.

Once I've got an idea for a possible structure, we'll run through it a number of times and talk out what’s going to work.

FBN: Are there any bands in particular that have heavily influenced your music?

Max: For me The Jesus Lizard and Pissed Jeans are two bands that have been influential.

Rob: Amrep as well as Touch and Go affiliated bands, but it always changes. As of late I have been pretty inspired by watching local bands.

FBN: You've got some pretty off-center lyrics, actually I'm reminded a lot of some King Buzzo has written for the Melvins. What themes do you tackle with your lyrics?

Max: More often than not my lyrics are based on social observations or the similarities I notice between human behaviour and that of animals. I have an unsaid rule of thumb to avoid the obvious bullshit themes of cars, girls and politics. I often like to use metaphors to colour and give multiple meanings to a song.

There's a line in our track Bladder where I say, "Back on the silver saddle of love". It's a metaphor I coined for drinking cask wine. The track Mutton Man is based on a mate who is a nurse. I was chatting with him one night and he made an in jest comment that he could clean up an old women's snatch real nice...his words not mine! Oddly enough that inspired me to write a song about a male nurse.

FBN: How do more 'punk and hardcore' oriented crowds react to your music?

Dorian: We’ve received some interest from punk/hardcore crowds, but we don’t see them so much at our shows, especially when you compare them to crowds that are more into noise rock. But because we have so many bands here in Melbourne, people can get picky on what type of bands they play with or what shows they go see. It's stupid because it limits people's taste. But then again, sometimes you’ll get a corker of a festival that offers mixed bills and they're great.

FBN :Your band is called Mutton, and you have a shirt featuring Sam Kekovich getting torn apart by sheep. Are you protective of your bovid brethren or do you just think Sam Kekovich is a wanker?

Max: It's more the parody of him being a meat eating advocate been eaten by the animal he promotes as food. Also, the visual ties in with our name, so why not!

Rob: A couple of us don't eat meat, but that wasn't why the t-shirt design came about. I think the image of Sam Kekovich (the "lambassador") being eaten alive by the same animal he demands Australians eat on Australia Day is pretty amusing to us. Digging a little deeper, I think it's a means of distancing ourselves from being associated with that particular notion of Australian nationalism in which prejudice is inherent.

FBN: Australia's history is rich with scuzzy, noise rock bands, and there's quite a few bands carrying on the tradition nowadays. Who are a few Australian noise rock bands (past and present) you think more people should know about?

FBN: What's on the books for Mutton in the near future - shows, releases, tours, etc.

Mutton: Our 7" EP shouldn't be too far off, let's say we'll have it released before the year is out. In terms of shows, we've got a whole bunch lined up throughout July and August, all of which are in Melbourne. But we're not neglecting the rest of the country as we're planning to head up to Brisbane towards the end of year.

FBN: Lastly, any thank yous, shout outs or advice you'd like to share with the general public?

Tuesday, 15 July 2014

I can't decide whether it was the True Detective sample that opens this release, or the bastardization of Take My Breath Away on the closing track that cemented by firm approval for Clotting's brand of power electronics. This four track cassette from the Chicago based project contains quite a few samples, such as the aforementioned two, as well as some uttely ferocious walls of fuzz and distortion, and powerful vocals thrust straight to foreground. The vocals sit very highly in the mix, sometimes receding into the pulses and swashes of the background noise, and divert time between a more standard bark/command and beefy gutturals, not too dissimilar to that of Eric Wood's subterranean growl. The noise on the other hand sits somewhere between straight up harsh noise walls, interspersed with a manner of distorted squeals, wails and synth pulses. All together it's a fairly minimal, primitive take on power electronics, composed in a manner that allows the vocals and samples to form a narrative. Simply put, it's a well constructed monolith of sound that also happens to be collapsing on your person, and will surely crush you and your precious vital organs with it's static-y girth.

Foot And Mouth Disease is a dark ambient/power electronics project out of Rochester, New York. Lead primarily by Lawrence J. Patti, and joined by David Voekl, FAMD's noise delivers unsettling atmosphere through synth and noisy electronics.

FBN: How did you get into noise?

Lawrence: Well my main inspiration was originally Patti Smith, who wasn't a noise artist but opened up the possibilities of music for me. The first I heard of noise music was early Cabaret Voltaire, which happened when I heard their later new-wave/disco semi-hit "Just Fascination" and was seeking out the album that was on. I wound up with an earlier album called Red Mecca that had some vivid artwork but wouldn't say what the tracks were. When I played it I was in for a shock -- it wasn't music as most people would expect, it was noisy and quite odd, but the more I listened to it the more I liked it. Later I would find out about Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse

FBN: And what prompted you form Foot and Mouth Disease?

Lawrence: Foot and Mouth Disease started while I was also in a project with local artist and poet Greg Lattanzio, originally called Nihilistic Ambience but later changing the name to the Little School. I was originally doing recordings before then with a Casio SK-1 and a cheap breadbox-sized two-track tape recorder -- those recordings were lost anyways. Around 1996 I bought a Fostex four-track second hand from Michell Album who was doing a noise project called Law in Fort Bend, Indiana. I got that mailed to me and I found a cheap Korg Poly 800 synth at Sound Source. So at the time I thought of a name and just at the moment I found a book about skin diseases at a garage sale, found a funny picture of a guy who had Foot and Mouth Disease and there was the name, which would be household for awhile years later... Basically I just thought it would be great if there was something like Throbbing Gristle in Rochester and also I found out there was a Buffalo/Syracuse noise band called 666 Noise Volt Battery or something and was unimpressed by one of their tapes. I thought even I could do better than that, so that prompted me to start FAMD.

FBN: In your opinion how is the current state of noise?

Lawrence: I'm not sure about noise's future. Noisy ideas have been used in modern pop music since 1983 with Shannon's smash-hit "Let the Music Play" (which I always found more irritating than noise usually is...) I don't think it's likely noise will become mainstream but weirder things have happened anyways. As long as it holds interest I'm sure there will always be noise acts.

FBN: Again, in your opinion where is noise’s place in the extreme underground scene?

Lawrence: Again mainstream music has always picked up on noise since the 80s, and I think that will be a given -- not saying it's become mainstream or that all mainstream music is that way (obviously) but there's lots of smart people in the genre who want to add that special spice to their layer cake, so to speak...

FBN: What artist are you listing to today and is there any artist that you feel need more attention?

Lawrence: I'm trying to think of any current noise acts I've been listening to. Mostly it's been local acts, especially Waves Crashing Piano Chords and Swallowing Bile. Iron Fist of the Sun put out a couple of good albums lately, and William Bennett's current project Cut Hands has always been interesting...

FBN: What is the future of Foot and Mouth Disease?

Lawrence: FAMD has lately been dormant due to lack of requests for shows or recorded material. My current Dark Ambient project Spaghettiman is still going to this day, mostly because it's stuff I do on my computer. Right now I'm mostly focusing on a "rock" project with Larry Feldman (ex-Nod) -- I'm not sure how it would evolve or if there will be noisier elements brought to it, but stay tuned anyways...

While Foot And Mouth Disease don't have their own bandcamp, you can listen and download several of their releases at the links below. Here's hoping we can hear some new tunes in the future.

Coupling serene dark ambient with somewhat industrial clanging in the background amidst a wide array of other musical experimentation, Vapor Night have created a great mixture of relaxing, unsettling, uplifting, and melancholy all at the same time in "The Dirt Sea". With a total run-time of just under twenty six minutes, The Dirt Sea is a journey through largely grey and ambiguous landscapes with little room for light as the album artwork suggests. It reminded me a little of Sunn O)))/Ulver's "Let There Be Light" mixed with various aspects of Boards of Canada at times which is ironic because I thought that before I found out they're Scottish (from the Isle of Lewis). Overall the album is a great excursion through familiar aspects of drone, noise, and shoegaze but mixed together like few have before.

Despite the odd power metal-esque guitar solo on tracks like "Never Give Birth", Cauterizer are one hell of an ugly, primitive death metal band- which is just how I like my death metal. Grinding out this and only one other demo tape in Sweden during the early 90s, Cauterizer split up after about a seven year run (1989-1996) which is a real shame, they demonstrate some serious talent here and it would've been great to see their style and abilities expand. Oh well though, at least we've got this demo, and what a great demo it is. Working through about ten minutes or so of material, "Then The Snow Fell..." is a great piece of death rock with listerine-gargled vocals and bludgeoningly heavy string instrumentation while more subtle, not as in-your-face and insanely fast drums course by in the backdrop- they never really become full on blast beats. I really enjoyed the death rock aspects of Cauterizer's work as well, bordering sometimes on death'n'roll I forgot that elements of traditional rock can work beautifully (I use that term loosely for what we're talking about here) when it's done with a measure of taste. Anyways if old-school death metal with a few twists sounds appealing to you then check out Cauterizer below.

Pigeon Religion came out of the same scene that's given us Avon Ladies, Tempe SS, Destruction Unit and Marshstepper - so I can almost slap a quality guaranteed sticker on this right now. But for those of you who want a little more information, Pigeon Religion were a noise rock group who existed from 2008 - 2010. In that criminally short time frame they cranked out some of the most uncomfortable, awkward noise rock dirges this side of Flipper's Generic, with little or no regard for whose ears they hurt in the process. The guitars are sloppy and sludgy, and have no qualms with letting the feedback to the talking, while the vocals come from the school of David Yow yelping - with a slightly more unhinged, caustic edge. As energetic as they were lethargic and drugged out, Pigeon Religion pretty much played the best modern take on weirdo, outsider noise rock. Too fucking bad they called it quits.
This is a frustrating post for numerous reasons, mostly because this is one of those bands with a ridiculously small discography, and excellent music. Godfuckingdammit.
Secondly, of this small discography - that includes a few live recordings, a mysterious LP, some 7"s and tapes I CAN ONLY FUCKING FIND the 7"s and a single tape online. URGH.
So if you have any information regarding the whereabouts of the missing releases, please oh please hit me up. I'd like to listen to them for starters, and then maybe share them with the general public.

Minimalism, funnily enough, is a tricky thing. Artists - musicians in particular - must strike the balance between simplicity and captivation, and avoid drawing a composition out to the point where they become droll and pretentious. Enter, The Hague.
On Luxollid, The Hague proves adept at crafting cinematic, brooding tracks that retain the spartan appeal of minimalism, but sport meticulous attention to detail and songwriting. Layers of cold, 80s flavoured synth , soft background ambience and harsher tones (such as the shrill, piercing wails on Monk's Hood) form the melting pot of drowned out, almost apathetic soundscapes that is Luxollid. It's not hard to imagine these tracks accompanying an x-rated VHS or an obscure European art film, as The Hague's subtle, musical progressions play out like a soundtrack to a non-existent film.Luxollid is stuck somewhere between EP and LP purgatory, coming in at roughly 20 minutes. While it's a short lived listen, it stays with you and demands multiple repeats - even if for pleasant background noise.

Homage To Nothing's bandcamp displays a somewhat accurate description for the sounds contained within: 'FUCKED UP DRUGGED OUT LO-FI SPAZZTIC NOISE AND DRUM CACOPHONIES'
Curiosity not quenched? You're not hovering over that bandcamp link button below already? Okay, allow me to elaborate.
On First Failure, Homage To Nothing combines the spaced out squelches and squeals of a synthesizer (a Korg Monotron by the sounds of things) and pairs them with fevered drum blasts. The duo play in reckless unison, joined on and off again by screams and yelps - to great effect. The spaced out squeaks of the synth and harsh drumming barrages may seem like and odd couple at first, but as the tracks progress, the two intertwine, duck, weave and duel each other until some semblance of balance is achieved.
You could say that this is the result of a noisecore album being recorded in the cockpit of a UFO whizzing through the skies in a 60s sci-fi flick - on that other hand it could be the sounds escaping from the mouth of a junkie passed out in his own vomit. Analogies aside, it is an interesting rendition of a genre that for the most part sounds the same, and you'd do well to ingest copious amounts of drugs and check it out.

TRACKLISTING:
1. MOVER OF MOUNTAINS
2. THAT CROW NEVER STOPS
3. I BURNED ALL OUR BOOKS
4. NO ONE MAKES IT
5. DRIVER NOT BELTED
6. DIRGE

Montreal-based black metal duo Akitsa are one of the many overlooked gems in the Canadian metal landscape that come as a breath of fresh air once found. Akitsa are masters of lo-fi, punk/garage rock-influenced black metal that also occasionally borders power electronics and harsh noise (especially on tracks like Les Ruines De La Modernité), with downright primitive, ceaseless shrieks from O.T. (the vocalist) that really bring a sense of unquenchable blood-lust and anger that characterizes their work. Whether their song structure is reliant on pretty simple, alternating, almost doomy riffs, or extremely complex instrumentation that completely overwhelms at times, Akitsa does it so, so right- a hard thing to do when driving through multiple tempos, atmospheres, and various types of experimentation in my own opinion. Even Werewolf from Satanic Warmaster apparently liked their work so much he recorded a split seven inch album with them that I've included as well. Nowadays Akitsa is still together, however the members devote their time between other projects- especially with O.T. being the owner of Tour de Garde. Hopefully 2014 or 2015 will see a new full-length LP by Akitsa, but in the meantime here's their early work to enjoy.

First off, I would just like to say thank you to the FBN crew for letting me join on to the blog. It is good to know that there are people who care about the super obscure and underground sounds of terror that I myself have come to enjoy. I listen to anything that offends, scares, and horrifies "normal" people would scoff at and cast of as just mindless noise (no pun intended). I remember not to long ago having my mom ask me to shut off the Whitehouse record "Birdseed" because of the rape testimonials in the title track because she couldn't handle the offensive nature of the track. I chuckled as i turned it up louder. I also have my own power electronic project called Mr. Potato Head is a Tranny, or MPHIAT for short.

Sunday, 13 July 2014

Fejhed is the collaboration between Frederikke Hoffmeier (Puce Mary) and Jesse Sanes (Hoax) - and while that may be exciting, wait until you hear this thing.
Fejhed utilises a quieter, more restrained approach to power electronics, that is heavy on atmosphere and tonality. Primarily synthesizer driven, Fejhed boasts beautiful sub bass rumblings, minimal sampling and eerie background ambiance courtesy of Hoffmeier, whileSanes provides the vocals, both harsh and spoken, which are pleasantly buried in the mix.
There's a particular ebb and flow to this tape - a very deliberate use of more muffled tones and volume surges, and much like the loops of a boat rocking in the water on Haunt, Fejhed sways back and forthbetween intense industrial/power electronics and soft ambient sections.
If you've been keeping up with the exciting Posh Isolation noise scene, and its numerous offshoots and contemporaries, then you'll be enthralled with this release. I can't say the same for Hoax fans though.

SWEET MOTHER OF BLOWN OUT HARDCORE
Prepare to resign about five and a half minutes of your life to this ugly fucking tape from Euthanizer. Fuzzed out guitars, washed out drums, feedback and garbled, strained vocals are on the menu here, all presented in cassette quality, low-bias, for your listening displeasure. I'm conflicted as to whether to really label this as 'grindcore', but this thing comes at you just as hard as any grind band could, albeit in a much more straightforward, primitive manner. If they ever managed to convert rabies to an audible form, I'm sure it'd sound a heckuva lot like this.
I am a little bummed that this, and a self titled tape are all we've heard from this band since 2010, and all we're likely to hear given it's a Youth Attack release, and it's now coming up on 2015 buuuuut on the other hand this is REALLY GOOD so it balances out. Sort of.

'The Harsh Weight Of Anxiety' - Eating Scabs For Protein
Certainly an inventive name, and pretty indicative of the raw, primal sounds that are about to be thrown at you. ESFP is self described 'rudimentary power electronics', though on this release it's entirely 'instrumental' noise, comprised of squealing feedback and gigantic static walls fighting for dominance in the background. This is the sort of noise that makes you want to curl up into a ball and chew your fingernails.Bandcamp

'HATRED' -SBTDOH
Isolation and discontent with the work-centric world we live in are the basis of this release by SBTDOH. HATRED is comprised of two lengthy tracks that share stylistic similarities to HNW, but break the usual monotony with bursts of dynamic noise. It's an interesting combination of styles and sounds and definitely worth checking out.Bandcamp

'I Can Never Know You' - Wolf CartographyI Can Never Know You is the new 42 minute long tape from Massachusetts based noise project, Wolf Cartography. The solo project takes its cues from the likes of artists such as Glenn Branca or Otomo Yoshihide and delivers harsh, improvised guitar based noise. While there's plenty of guitar feedback, you're also assaulted with string scratches, painful string bends and an assortment of distorted wails and chugs.Bandcamp

'Vessels' - Rui. P Andrade
More guitar oriented noise, but this time from sound artist Rui P. Andrade. Vessels is composed from numerous sources: prepared guitar, synthesizers and field recordings, all of which intertwine to create a slow, haunting build up of ambient noise. The two tracks here are certainly lengthy, but rewarding in their own right - each layer of sound is so meticulously crafted that you have to listen.Bandcamp

'Machine Death' - Frequency Killer
Coming at you from Florida, USA is this debut from Frequency Killer, Machine Death.
Over thirty, short, violent tracks you are slammed with seething, bubbling noise via unrestrained feedback and chaotic distortion. Definitely an endurance test for the ears.Bandcamp

'Bitch Status' - Stricture Divulsor
Traditional instrumentation, noise, sampling and field recording and an interesting interpretation of Tracy Chapman's 'Fast Car' all collide on this debut EP from Stricture Divulsor. Somewhere between musique concrete and avant-garde rock is where I'd place this, but there's elements of traditional noise and electronica as well. An incredibly well put together collage of genres and an intriguing listen for sure.Bandcamp

If you're looking for something bleak, noisy and absolutely APOCALYPTIC to ruin your day then look no further, for you have found it here. Abjection Ritual is a solo death industrial project from Pennyslvania, USA, and this here is the stunning self titled debut release.Abjection Ritual is built around numerous components - synth, noise, samples and vocals - delivered in massive, exquisitely composed tracks. thats tows the line between creepy ambient pieces, and the aforementioned APOCALYPTIC industrial dirges.
Each track sees new ideas and sounds explored - tracks such as Wastrel utilize minimal percussion and vocals pushed to the foreground of the mix, while Haunted Distraction is entirely 'instrumental' and serves as as a chilling soundscape.
As much as I love my improvised noise, there's no denying the power that deliberately composed pieces have, and Abjection Ritual most certainly demonstrates this on this release. Turn this one up loud and enjoy the sounds of the end of the world.